Wheel bearing noise - safe to drive?
- Thread starter marl
- Start date
Associate
300 miles is quite a lot! What car is it on? Is doing your self not an option? Personally, i wouldnt risk it
Skoda Fabia. I'm not very good at DIY so doing it myself isn't an option!
Associate
Ok, I wouldnt wait! I presume your talking about taking it to a main dealers, seens as the wait is that long?
Associate
Isnt it a case of one does and one doesnt? If it was the O/S then i would consider it, but being N/S and considering how many roundabouts make up the road network is why i say i wouldnt drive it if i had another option. Or take it to an independant garage
Soldato
If it bothers you then don't drive it, but I drove on mine on the Civic for ages. You'll need to really punish the bearing for it to totally collapse.
If it's just started making a noise and it's not ridiculously noisy then it will almost certainly cover 300 miles with no problem (but I offer no guarantee!).
It takes only a minuscule chip on a ball or a race to make a surprising amount of noise, but provided there is grease in the bearing they will usually go for thousands of miles like this.
My civic (same as Gaijins) also had a slightly noisy rear bearing (common problem with them) and I did over 5000 miles before replacing it, even though it hadn't actually become any worse during that period.
It takes only a minuscule chip on a ball or a race to make a surprising amount of noise, but provided there is grease in the bearing they will usually go for thousands of miles like this.
My civic (same as Gaijins) also had a slightly noisy rear bearing (common problem with them) and I did over 5000 miles before replacing it, even though it hadn't actually become any worse during that period.
Soldato
Official answer: Don't drive it.
Secret answer: I've done over 300 miles in a Punto on a trailing arm bearing which started with 1" of play in the off-side rear wheel and ended with all the rollers missing from the bearing and 6" of play in the wheel.
Secret answer: I've done over 300 miles in a Punto on a trailing arm bearing which started with 1" of play in the off-side rear wheel and ended with all the rollers missing from the bearing and 6" of play in the wheel.
Official answer: Don't drive it.
Secret answer: I've done over 300 miles in a Punto on a trailing arm bearing which started with 1" of play in the off-side rear wheel and ended with all the rollers missing from the bearing and 6" of play in the wheel.
And there was I thinking I was bad doing over 3000 miles on a whirring bearing that had no play or notchiness at all.
If it had any play in it then I'd replace it as a matter of priority tbh, as it will get worse rapidly. To check, jack the wheel off the ground and grab it at both top/bottom and both sides and feel for any movement in it.
Soldato
And if there is play, remember to look at the wheel bolts/nuts. The number of times I've seen them wiggle in the holes...
Permabanned
All those condoning driving it should explain that to a local girl who noticed a wheel bearing noise and had the wheel fly off at 80MPH just 50 miles later. You need to consider the possibility that its already packed out with grease.
Would you be fine, maybe. Is it worth risking your life for? Probably not.
Would you be fine, maybe. Is it worth risking your life for? Probably not.
Girl noticing a "noise" = bloke noticing violent vibration, evil handling and something generally badly wrong. Anyone with an ounce of common sense (i.e. not most women) would not be doing 80mph under those conditions.
Would you be fine? Almost certainly. Is there a significant risk? No.
Associate
As none of us are driving around in this particular car with this particular bearing noise then the sensible choice is to not risk it.
The sensible thing to do is to make an informed decision. Check the wheel nuts are tight and that the bearing does not have excessive play, and if ok then drive it.
Caporegime
It's a common problem with them, unfortunately.
The official answer is: no, you can't. But when I couldn't get mine fixed before a trip from Coventry to Whitby and back the garage told me on the sly that it'd be fine providing you don't hoon it. I stuck below 60 and had a pretty miserable driving experience but it was fine.
I'd try to avoid driving if you can, but it will probably be okay if you can't.
I understand these are a bit of a 'weak link' with the Fabia. The bearing/ hub is all one unit IIRC, so it needs pressed into the strut using a hydraulic press. Could maybe manage with a vice and some large sockets if you wanted to DIY.
My old man hit a kerb in his Fabia (icy road)... the car had a hugely loud wheel bearing after that - at 40mph+ I was having to shout over the humming noise to speak to him. We just limped it to the nearest garage and got the new hub/ bearing fitted.
My advice would be to avoiding going too far. Limp it to a garage asap.
My old man hit a kerb in his Fabia (icy road)... the car had a hugely loud wheel bearing after that - at 40mph+ I was having to shout over the humming noise to speak to him. We just limped it to the nearest garage and got the new hub/ bearing fitted.
My advice would be to avoiding going too far. Limp it to a garage asap.